In the book, Torry relates the story of winning the grand prize in the acting category at Christian Artists in Colorado. Even with this great victory among the elite of Christian creativity, he was still questioning whether or not he had what it takes or whether his win was a fluke. Then he heard a television evangelist say this, “Exercising our gifts is a matter of obedience. Failure to exercise our gifts can adversely affect the body of Christ and the very glory of God.” Those words shook him to the core. They shake me too.
You might want to question that. You may want to say God’s glory does not depend on me. You may be right about that, but consider this, why were you given the gifts you have been given? I think every believer would say to glorify God. Well if that’s the case (and it is!) then you failing to exercise your God-given gift will adversely affect (even if only temporarily) God’s glory going forth in this world. Don’t do that. Your gift is not a fluke, it’s a freely given gift from the One who loves you most and knows you best. Are you the greatest in the world at what you do? Probably not, but you can bring it into the world in a way no one else can, so bring it! Remember the way we get better is to keep doing what we do faithfully, to the best of our abilities, trusting God to bring growth.
You can do what God has given you to do. There is a pretty great chance that He created you to do it, so don’t withhold that gift. Put it to work, develop it and show it to the world. That’s how we give God glory.
Are you adversely affecting the glory of God? Stop it and get to work!
AMOKArts 